Perspectives on plant competition

In Part I, Perspectives on the determinants of competitive success, J.H.Connell distinguishes the traditional definition of competition (in which members of a pair of species inhibit each other through effects on resources or one another's abiotic environment) from "apparent' competition in which indirect negative effects are mediated through additional species. D.E.Goldberg discusses how plants may interact via limiting resources, distinguishing between the effects of plants on resources versus plant response to resource depletion. J.B.Grace deals with the determinants of competitive success and examines similarities and differences between the theories of Grime and Tilman. J.A.Silander & S.W.Pacala use spatial models of neighbourhood competition. F.Berendse and W.T.Elberse focus on the determinants of competitive success for nutrient-limited heathland and grassland species. D.Tilman discusses models of the mechanisms of nutrient competition. G.B.Williamson addresses ways of studying allelochemical interactions. Part II, the role of competition in community structure, begins with L.G.Firbank & A.R.Watkinson's examination of methodological limitations of traditional experiments. U.Sommer analyses mechanisms of nutrient competition among phytoplankton. M.P.Austin and P.A.Keddy explore competition and the distribution of species across habitats. F.A.Bazzaz discusses within-habitat effects of competition. The themes of complex explanations of pattern within communities are addressed by R.Turkington & L.A.Mehroff and by N.L.Fowler. S.R.Radosevich and M.L.Rousch examine the role of competition in agroecosystems. Part III reviews the impact of herbivores, parasites and symbionts on competition. E.B.Allen and M.F.Allen discuss mycorrhizae in altering competitive ability. K.Clay demonstrates that non-mycorrhizal fungi can have strong effects on competition through both pathogenic and mutualistic mechanisms. The role of herbivores in modifying competitive relations and in regulating populations are themes addressed by S.M.Louda, K.H.Keeler & R.D.Holt, and by L.Oksanen. -after Editors